Gender Issues and the Hijab/Burqa
French policies banning Hijabs and Abayas draw outrage at home and abroad
France’s Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera announced on 3rd September 2023 on France 3 that athletes representing France will be barred from wearing hijabs or other religious symbols while competing at the upcoming 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.1 The minister stated that the ban upholds France’s principle of “strict secularism” or “la laïcité,” in sports and…
Germany’s Anti-Muslim Sentiment: Key Insights from the Report of the Anti-Muslim Hostility Group
On 30th June 2023, a 400 paged report titled as Anti- Muslim Hostility- A German Balance Sheet 2023 ( Muslimfeindlichkeit – Eine deutsche Bilanz 2023) [fn]https://www.bmi.bund.de/SharedDocs/downloads/EN/publikationen/2023/BMI22030.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=1[/fn] was produced by the Independent Group of Experts on Anti-Muslim Hostility UEM (Unabhängigen Expertenkreis Muslimfeindlichkeit) under the auspices of Germany’s Interior Ministry. The twelve-member[fn] The twelve members of the…
French Supreme Court Upholds Hijab Ban in Football Games: Another Affront to Religious Freedom
On Thursday, 29th June 2023, the Council of State (Conseil d’Etat) the highest administrative court in France, upheld a ban on Muslim women football players wearing hijab during all matches organized by the French Football Federation (FFF).[fn]https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/top-french-court-upholds-ban-wearing-hijab-during-soccer-games-2023-06-29/[/fn] The case was brought before the Council of State on 26th June 2023. [fn]https://www.marianne.net/societe/laicite-et-religions/port-du-hijab-dans-le-foot-le-conseil-detat-denonce-des-attaques-contre-lindependance-de-la-justice [/fn] after the…
The Western Criticisms of Qatar: Double standard or on point?
Qatar is currently hosting the 2022 FIFA (Fédération internationale de Football Association, meaning International Association Football Federation) World Cup, after successfully securing the bid in 2010. They are the first Middle Eastern (and Muslim) host of the tournament following FIFA’s appeal to take the World Cup to a region where football is both popular, and…
New Report: Discrimination and Lack of Unity between Muslim, Black and White People in the UK
Introduction In July 2022 the report “Discrimination, Prejudice and Cohesion – Intergroup relations among Black, Muslim and White People in Britain in the Context of Covid-19 and Beyond” was published as part of the Beyond Us and Them project, “a series of national and sub-national surveys examining perceptions and experiences of social cohesion across Britain…